Flooring Obsessions

Veresque by Quick•Step: A Review by Nola the Bulldog

Hi everyone! Did you miss me? I missed you! I’ve been really busy helping Mom with her party for Erinn Valencich, you can read about it here.  It was hard work packing up all those gift bags for everyone, did anyone find anything special from me in their bags?

Mom said the nice people over at Quick•Step brought Erinn in all the way from California to meet with The Carpet & Tile Mart customers and give them design advice.  Hey, I have an aunt in California, I miss her…  Anyways, since we had this great party with Erinn and the peeps at Quick•Step, Mom says that I should review Quick•Step’s Veresque for you next.

For those of you who don’t know already, Quick•Step makes laminate floors.  They make super-awesome laminate floors, with patented Uniclic Technology!

The Veresque laminate floor features a smooth furniture finish… wait, what?  Mom, are you sure that’s right? This laminate is made from furniture? Oh, right… Mom says that’s how they describe how smooth the finish of the floor is, like furniture, ’cause furniture is normally nice and smooth… until I get a hold of it…  One of the neat things about the finish on the Veresque floor, and all of Quick•Step’s laminates,  is that they make them SUPER scratch-resistant.

The ScratchGuard Advanced Finish Protection is much more scratch resistant than other brands and it even protects against micro-abrasions (itty-bitty scratches) that are caused by dirt and dust.  So not only will your floor look newer, longer, it can stand up to bulldogs playing on it too!

The Veresque designs come in what they call a plank look with a rolled edge, which makes the laminate look more authentic than real wood!  Wait… scratch that (see what I did there?). Mom says that I shouldn’t say that the Veresque looks more like wood than actual hardwood does, she says nothing can look more like wood than wood already does, or the universe would implode or something like that.  Well you could have fooled me!  Mom says that it looks so good because Quick•Step made some great innovations in the technology they use to make the images on the planks, so they have more a realistic look and feel.  You would think Quick•Step would be happy with just their new imaging techniques, but no; they stepped it up a notch by adding their GenuEdge technology to this already super-awesome laminate.  They take the same image used to create the design on the laminate and wrap it around the edge of the plank, so it looks more realistic.  Mom says it’s a match made in heaven, you know what else is a match made in heaven? Vanilla yogurt in my kibble at dinner time (hint hint).

Ok, now we know the Veresque laminate look awesome, but not so awesome that the universe implodes, and that it will stay looking good ’cause of the ScratchGuard Advanced Finish Protection magical stuff.  But what about the installation? Is it easy to put down?  Turns out, because of the Uniclic locking system, this laminate is so easy to put down, a bulldog could do it!  Not that I want to, I normally just supervise.

The Uniclic locking system is not only super easy to use, it also locks really, really tight to help keep bulldog drool or other liquids from seeping into the cracks and causing water damage.  But the Uniclic system isn’t your only line of defense against moisture troubles, the Veresque laminate is made with a water-resistant HDF core board; which is much stronger than the standard chipboard or MDF than other laminates are made from.  When these two powers combine… Captain Planet! He’s our hero… dun dun dun… Sorry, couldn’t help myself, I lay around and watch cartoons on the days that Mom leaves me at home.  So, the HDF core board and Uniclic system together offer a great protection against “accidents” with my water bowl (ok, they aren’t accidents, but don’t tell mom I sometimes play in there, ok?) or the always present, bulldog drool.  Someone once told me that when bulldogs drool, it’s like getting a thousand kisses all at once, so I’m sure to share my drool whenever I can!

The super geniuses over at Quick•Step also added a balancing layer to the back of the boards to make them stronger, more stable, and… get ready for this one… moisture-resistant!  This level of moisture protection protects against hydrostatic pressure, which is when the water comes up through the sub-floor.  Mom says its fairly typical for all basements to have small amounts of hydrostatic pressure build up at certain times of the year, so this extra backing is a good thing to have.

Mom says all of Quick•Step’s products have super great warranties, and that they’re Green too!  There’s that word again… I don’t think I’ll ever get that one.  Either way, it’s good for the environment.  They make it from 74% pre-consumer recycled wood fibers and chips left over from other manufacturing processes (furniture maybe?), which also have to meet certain standards for safe forestation and renewably sourced materials.  Quick•Step is also made in the USA, so shipping is reduced and people have jobs, which is always a good thing.  Then there’s the free-float thing, where you don’t need any glue to install this laminate, so it  doesn’t stink when you’re putting it down; unless  you have a gassy bulldog supervising.

So that’s Veresque Laminate by Quick•Step.  What do you guys think?  All-in-all it’s a really cool floor, who knew floors could have so much technology in them? I wonder where they keep the iPhone…  I had tons of fun learning about and then playing with this laminate during my photo shoot!  I can’t forget to thank my buddy Will for helping me and Mom out during the photo shoot, and super-duper thanks for letting me chase your tape measure! That was soo fun!

Thanks guys! I’ll talk to you all in a few weeks with my next product review!

~Nola